1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of displaying a dendrogram, and more particularly to a method of displaying a plurality of dendrograms created from the same group of elements in a comparable manner.
2. Background Art
Recent years have witnessed progress in experiment methods in molecular biology. It is now possible to quickly collect biopolymer data on genetic sequences, for example. Such data can be digitized or converted into numerical terms according to a single reference or algorithm and then processed by a computer to provide quantified relationships among biomolecules, which can be displayed in the form of a dendrogram.
The quantified relationships among elements in a group of elements based on a single reference or algorithm can be easily displayed in the form of a dendrogram. There are cases where it is desired to quantify relationships among elements in the same group of elements based on different references or algorithms, so that the resultant, individual dendrograms can be compared. A typical example of the reference for comparison of dendrograms is clustering or the manner in which individual elements are clustered. In a dendrogram, a change in the order of the elements displayed can cause its topology to be changed without disturbing numerical relationships. Thus, it is extremely difficult to simply compare dendrograms indicating the inter-element relationships in the same group of elements.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a display method which can clarify differences in dendrograms that are created by quantifying elements in the same group of elements based on different references or algorithms. It is a second object of the present invention to provide a display method by which differences in the manner in which individual elements are clustered in dendrograms can be easily judged.